"WHY ARE YOU MEN FROM GALILEE standing looking into the sky?" The
Ascension is not to be understood literally as if Jesus floated up into
space on his way to "heaven". Where is "heaven"? It is above Jerusalem?
Is it in the whole sky encircling the earth? Heaven should be conceived
not as a place but as a relationship with God and God is everywhere in
the whole universe. Jesus did not have to 'go' anywhere to be with his
Father.
Paschal mystery
The Ascension is part of what we call the Paschal Mystery. There are
four inter-related parts: suffering and death; resurrection; ascension;
and the sending of the Spirit. They are closely interlocked as one
reality. If the resurrection says that the crucified Jesus is alive, the
Ascension says that the living Jesus has entered into glory, sharing on
an equal level the glory of his Father.
This is expressed in many different ways in different writings of our
Christian (New) Testament. We have three of these viewpoints or
understandings in each of today's readings.
On God's right hand
In the Letter to the Ephesians (Second Reading) the fact is stated with
great solemnity but without saying how it took place. The author speaks
of the:
strength of [God's] power at work in Christ,
when he used it to raise him from the dead
and to make him sit at his right hand, in heaven,
far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination,
or any other name that can be named,
not only in this age, but also in the age to come.
This is basically the meaning of the Ascension, namely, that Jesus, our
triumphant Messiah-King, reigns in glory over all creation. There is no
mention of "where" he is or how he got there.
Familiar account
If we go to the Acts of the Apostles (First Reading) we come to a
description which, for many Christians, is the definitive account of the
Ascension. Jesus rose on Easter Sunday and then spent 40 days
instructing his disciples about the Reign or Kingship of God.
During this time they wondered when Jesus was going to restore the
Kingdom of Israel. They were still in a state of great misunderstanding
about the nature of Jesus' mission - and their own. As they will
eventually come to understand, it is they themselves who will become the
agents not of restoring the Kingdom of Israel but, much more importantly,
helping to establish the Kingship of God all over the world.
Then, one day on the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem, as they
looked on, he "was lifted up" and "a cloud took him from their sight".
The "lifting up" is to be understood more in a spiritual sense, as it is
in John's Gospel where he speaks a number of times about Jesus being
"lifted up" (e.g. "I, being lifted up, will draw all people to myself.")
It refers in particular to the Risen Jesus being raised to the glory of
God the Father. This is further emphasised by the cloud that took him
from their sight. The same cloud that, in the Hebrew Testament, shrouded
Mount Sinai as the sign of God's presence or the cloud that enveloped
Jesus at his Transfiguration.
Lower your eyes
And that is why the disciples need to be told not to stay standing there
gawking up at the sky. That is not where the Risen and Ascended Jesus is
to be found. If they want to meet him again, they have to go back to
Jerusalem, where, in a few days' time, they themselves will be filled
with the Spirit of God and of the Risen and Ascended Jesus. They will
become the Body of the Risen and Exalted Jesus, his effective presence
to "the ends of the earth".
As Jesus had told them just before his Ascension (in the Acts), "You
will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will
be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judea and Samaria,
and indeed to the ends of the earth."
As we saw on previous Sundays, in order to continue being with his
disciples, Jesus had to leave them. His "old" presence in one human body,
in one small corner of the world, reaching a small number of people, in
one tiny period of history now gives way to a new presence that will
reach the whole world in every age. From now on wherever there is "love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness...", wherever
there is truth, love, compassion, justice, freedom, beauty the Spirit of
Jesus is there.
Same message, different location
Today's Gospel (from Matthew) has a similar message. While the scene in
Acts takes place in Jerusalem (for Luke the focal point of all that
Jesus means for the world), Matthew has the disciples back on their home
ground in Galilee. For, it is in the familiarity of home, not up in the
skies, that Jesus is to be found. They are at the mountain "where Jesus
arranged to meet them". This is the mountain where Jesus once revealed
himself to three disciples at the Transfiguration (chap. 17) and where
he touched them ("Stand up; do not be afraid.").
This is not really an ascension scene. It is understood that the Risen
Jesus is already in the glory of the Father. We have here rather an
appearance of the Risen Jesus, an appearance that relies on faith. So,
on the one hand they worship and, on the other, they have doubts - an
experience all of us can have from time to time. The emphasis here is
not on the appearance of Jesus but on what he has to say to his
disciples. It is in three parts - past, present and future.
Jesus, source of all authority
First, Jesus tells them that all authority of the Creator God himself,
has been given to him. To commit oneself totally to Jesus is to commit
oneself to God.
Second, Jesus gives the command to "make disciples" of people everywhere.
He is thus passing on much of his own authority to his disciples.
Pentecost will be the confirmation of this. They are to do what he did.
They will have the power to reconcile the sinful with God and with the
community and to decide who are not yet ready for reconciliation and
full participation in the community's life. The community has standards
to keep in order to be a living and credible witness of Jesus and his
Gospel. It has a corporate right to maintain those standards.
They are to teach, to heal, to break down the divisions that separate
people. Baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
will be the symbol of incorporation as members of Christ's Body, as
disciples of Jesus.
Always with us
Third, the Risen and Ascended Jesus is not far away. He is with his
followers and will be with them to the end of time. It is a reminder of
the promise made at the very beginning of Matthew's Gospel, before the
birth of Jesus: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his
name will be called Emmanuel (which means, God is with us)" (Matt 1:23)
and again later on, "Wherever two or three are gathered in my name,
there am I among them" (Matt 18:20). The gift of the Spirit is not
mentioned but is clearly implied by the promise of the ongoing presence
of Jesus.
Today's feast then is a celebration of Jesus' glory after his suffering
and death - a glory in which we also hope to share. At the same time, we
celebrate the ongoing presence of the Risen Jesus among us, a presence
which calls on every one of us to be living witnesses to that presence
here in our own community and to the ends of the earth.
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